Separator



April 10, 1934. c, |E H 1,953,948

SEPARATOR' Filed Jan. 10 1951 BY 44;, ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 10, 1934 1,953,948 SEPARATOR Tom Conrad Bith, Stockholm, Sweden Application January 10, 1931, Serial No. 507,827

In Sweden January 16, 1930 1'? Claims. (01. 183-80) This invention relates to the separation of solid particles from a fluid stream and more particularly to a method and means for separating solid particles, such as soot and dust from blast furnace gas or for separating dust and smoke particles from air.

An object of the present invention is to provide a compact, simple and efilcient device of the above character.

The invention also consists in certain new and original features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be par- "ticularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages, and the manner in which it may be carried out, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a preferred form of the invention especially adapted for separating soot and other solid particles out of blast furnace Fig. 2 is an end the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a pressure riation in pressure in device.

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing.

In the following description-and in the claims, various details will be identified by specific names for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application as the art will permit.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, the invention is shown as comprising a container having a cylindrical section 10 and a conical section 11, which may be formed of any desired material, such as sheet metal,-and are joined together with the base of the conical section adjacent one end of the cylindrical section 10. An inlet pipe 12 is mounted transversely of cylindrical section 10 at one end thereof and in a position to supply gases tangentially of said container.- The gas outlet comprises a pipe 13 mounted coaxially with cylindrical portion 10 and with the end thereof extending to approximately the plane of the base of conical section 11. The end of conical section 11 is provided with an opening 14 having a suitable closure means. Said opening is arranged elevation thereof as seen from diagram showing the vathe different parts of the to afford access to the interior of the device for cleaning purposes.

Slot 15 is formed in section 10 in the lower portion thereof, and extends from the base of conical section 11 to a jacent the inlet pipe 12 but not extending under. Conical section wedge-shaped slot 16 which is formed as tinuation of slot 15 of said conical section. The shape of slot 15l6 is shown in the lower part of Slots 15 and 16 may be walls of sections 10 and in an axial direction point adthere- 11 is provided with a and terminates at the end the whole Fig. 4.

formed by cutting the 11 after which the adjacent portions of the walls may be bent apart as indicated in Fig. 2. If

the slots are formed by vertical bending of the walls, they are preferably so located as to open toward the rotating gases.

A collecting chamber 1'? is secured beneath said container and extends longitudinally a distance is of a ace for during The lower portion of said collecting chamber is provided with an opening 18 through 8 which the solid particles-may which may be closed and hermetically while the device is in use. p

In the operation of the above described be removed and sealed device,

the fluid, such for example as blast furnace gas, 8 is supplied through pipe 12 in a tangential direction with respect to the container and is caused to rotate within cylindrical section 10 of the container. to be set up which throws the container wall through slot 15. At

and causes them t This rotation causes a centrifugal force the solid particles to 0 the same time a certain portion of the gas will escape through said slot and enter collecting chamber 17 and assist in the removal of said solid particles.

The main current of the gas flows with progressively decreasing pressure and decreasing angular velocity along a helical path within section 10 of the container whereby the centrifugal force likewise decreases. This flow is in a spiral increasing pitch.

path of The lowest pressure is reached at a point or zone approximately conical section. 11 as indicated in the plane of the base of in diagram of Fig. 4. Due to the lowered pressure obtained the gases progress through cylindrical section 10,

the gases which have passed through slot 15 into collecting chamber 1'7 as a branch stream are caused to flow generally parallel to the axis of said cylindrical section and to enter the s ame at 1 10 I the points of reduced pressure where they again join with the rotating gases therein.

As the gas flows through conical section 11, due to continued rotation with a substantially con,- stant peripheral velocity but increasing angular velocity the centrifugal force is again increased whereby further quantities of particles are carried through slot 16 into chamber 17.

The pressure is also increased due to the de-.

creased area of said conical section and the recompressed gas is thereafter discharged through pipe 13. The increase in pressure as the gas stream passes through conical section 11 is indicated in the diagram of Fig. 4. It will be noted that as the pressure and the centrifugal force, increase, the opening of wedge-shaped slot 16 decreases, in order to prevent too large a quantity of the recompressed gases to pass through said slot in the narrower part of the chamber 11. Any gas which escapes through slot 16, however, re-enters the container through the slot in the reduced pressure zone.

By the above described operation it is to be noted that a continuous ventilation of chamber 17 is obtained so that the gas with the substances to be separated may be continuously supplied to said chamber. The wedge-shaped form of slot 16 minimizes the disturbance of its rotating gas column thereby.

On account of rotation of the gas-cone present in conical section 11, a reduced pressure (vacuum) is produced within said gas-cone and it is therefore important that the inner opening of discharge pipe 13 be located outside of this area of reduced pressure in order to permit the clean gas to be discharged through said pipe. The inner end of said pipe is accordingly placed at or near the plane of the base of said conical section and does not extend within the zone.

If the above described device is to be used for the cleaning of blast furnace gas, openings 14 and 18 are maintained hermetically sealed in order. to prevent contamination of the blast furnace gas with the surrounding air. This is of particular importance due to the highly explosive nature of such gases. Opening 14, however, may be used when desired for cleaning purposes and opening 18 may be utilized for discharging the accumulations of the solid particles in chamber 1'7.

In the preferred embodiment disclosed in the accompanying drawing, the vertical angle of the conical section 11 has been shown as 45". This conicity has proved to be particularly satisfactory for cleaning blast furnace gases in which it is desirable to prevent separation of the small coal particles since said particles increase the value of the gases for subsequent use. If, however, the device is to be used for cleaning other media, the vertical angle may be variedas desired to provide the necessary separating efiiciency. It may be noted that the separating efficiency increases with a decrease in said vertical angle.

It is obvious that such modifications of the invention may be made as may be required in any particular instance, as for example by the omission of either the cylindrical section 10 or the conical section 11. The device may also be applied to various fields of utility wherein it is desirable to separate substances out of a gaseous or liquid medium and the above description has been limited to a particular instance for purposes of disclosure only.

What I.claim is:

1. The method of separating solid particles from a gas medium which comprises causing a stream of said medium with entrained particles to flow in a helical path with decreasing velocity, pressure and centrifugal force, thereafter recompressing said gases and again increasing the centrifugal force thereof, utilizing the centrifugal force and variation of pressure to separate said solid particles and to cause portions of the gas stream to separate as a branch stream and to carry said solid particles therewith, and reintroducing said branch stream into the main stream at points of decreased pressure therein.

2. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section joined together, means for introducing gases into said cylindrical section in a tangential direction at a point spaced from said conical section and means for discharging gases from said conical section whereby said gases follow a helical path in said chamber with decreasing pressure and velocity and are recompressed in passing through said conical section, said cylindrical section and said conical section having discharge slots formed therein and extending axially thereof, said slots being adapted to receive and discharge solid particles thrown from the gas stream by centrifugal force and to permit a portion of the gas stream to separate as a branch stream and to carry said solid particles through said slot and to pemiit said branch stream to be reintroduced into the main stream at points of decreased pressure therein.

3. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section joined together, means for introducing gases into said cylindrical section in a tangential direction at a point spaced from said conical section and means.

for discharging gases from said conical section whereby said gases follow a helical path in said chamber with decreasing pressure and velocity and are recompressed in passing through said conical section, said cylindrical section and said conical section having discharge slots formed therein and extending axially thereof, said slots being adapted to receive and discharge solid particles thrown from the gas stream by centrifugal force and to permit a portion of the gas stream to separate as a branch stream and to carry said solid particles through said slot and to permit said branch stream to be reintroduced into the main stream at points of decreased pressure therein, said points corresponding approximately to the plane of the base of said conical section.

4. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section joined together, means for introducing gases into said cylindrical section in a tangential direction at a point spaced from said conical section and means for discharging gases from said conical section whereby said gases follow a helical path in said chamber with decreasing pressure and velocity and are recompressed in passing through said conical section, said cylindrical section and said conical section having discharge slots formed therein and extending axially thereof, said slots being adapted to receive and discharge solid particles thrown from said gas stream by centrifugal force and to permit a portion of the gas stream to separate as a branch stream and to into the main stream at points of decreased pressure therein, the slot in said conical section being wedge-shaped to limit passage of said solid particles and gas therethrough as the pressure of the stream increases.

5. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section joined together, means for introducing gases into said cylindrical section in a tangential direction at a point spaced from said conical section and means for discharging gas from said conical section whereby said gases follow a helical path in said chamber with decreasing pressure and velocity and are recompressed in passing through said conical section, said discharging means comprising a discharge pipe extending axially of said container and terminating at approximately the plane of the base of said conical section, said cylindrical section and said conical section having discharge slots formed therein and extending axially thereof, said slots being adapted to receive and discharge solid particles thrown from the gas stream by centrifugal force and to permit a portion of the gas stream to separate as a branch stream and to carry said solid particles through said slot and to permit said branch stream to be reintroduced into the main stream at points of decreased pressure therein.

6. A device for separating solid particles from a gas streamcomprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section joined together, means for introducing gases into said cylindrical section in a tangential direction at a point spaced from said conical section and means for discharging gases from said conical section whereby said gases "follow a helical path in said chamber with decreasing pressure and decreasing angular velocity and are recompressed in passing through said conical section, said cylindrical section and said conical section having discharge slots formed therein and extening axially thereof,

, said slots being adapted to receive and discharge solid particles thrown from the gas stream by centrifugal force and to permit a portion of the gas stream to separate as a branch stream and to carry said solid particles through said slot and to permit said branch stream to bereintroduced into the main stream at points of decreased pressure therein, and a collecting chamber mounted adjacent said container in a position to receive material which is passed through said slots.

'I. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section joined together, means for introducing gases into said cylindrical section in a tangential direction at a point spaced from said conical section and means for discharging gases from said. conical section whereby said gases follow a helical path in said cylindrical section with decreasing pressure and decreasing angular velocity and are recompressed in passing through said conical section, said cylindrical section and said conical section having discharge slots formed therein and extending axially thereof, said slots being adapted to receive and discharge solid particles thrown from the gas stream by centrifugal force and to permit a portion of the gas stream to separate as a branch stream and to carry said solid particles through said slot and to permit said branch stream to be reintroduced into the main stream at points of decreased pressure therein, and a collecting chamber adjacent said container in position to receive material passing through said slots, said collecting chamber being normally closed to prevent access of air to said gas stream. 8. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section, said coni-' cal section having its base joined to said cylindrical section and having its smaller end closed, means for withdrawing gases from said conical section, an inlet pipe mounted tangentially ,of said cylindrical section whereby gases may be introduced thereto and caused to follow a helical path therein, an axially extending discharge slot formed in said cylindrical section and in said conical section adapted to permit passage of material from said container, and a collecting chamber mounted below said slot and completely enclosing the same.

9. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section, said conical section having its base joined to said cylindrical section and having its smaller end closed, means for withdrawing gases from said conical section, an inlet pipe mounted tangentially of said cylindrical section whereby gases may be introduced thereto and caused to follow a helical path therein, an axially extending discharge slot formed in said cylindrical section and in said conical section adapted to permit passage of material from said container, and a collecting chamber mounted below said slot and completely enclosing the same, the vertical angle of said conical section being approximately 45.

10. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container havinga cylindrical section and a conical section, said conical section having its base joined to said cylindrical section and having its smaller end closed, means for withdrawing gases'from the conical section, an inlet pipe mounted tangentially of said cylindrical section whereby gases may be introduced thereto and caused to follow a helical path therein, an axially extending discharge slot formed in said cylindrical section and in said conical section adapted to permit passage of mate rial from said container, and a collecting chamber mounted below said slot and completely enclosing the same, said conical member having means located at the smaller end thereof for permitting access to said container for cleaning purposes.

11. A device for separating solid particles from a gas stream comprising a container having a cylindrical section and a conical section, said conical section having its base joined to said cylindrical section and having its smaller end closed, means for withdrawing gases from the conical section, an inlet pipe mounted tangentially of said cylindrical section at a point in said cylindrical section spaced from said conical section whereby gases may be introduced thereto and caused to follow a helical path therein, an axially extending discharge slot formed in said cylindrical section and in said conical section and extending from the closed end of said conical section to a point adjacent said inlet pipe and adapted to permit passage of material from said container, and a collecting chamber mounted below said slot and completely enclosing the same.

12. Apparatus of the character described comprising hollow means in the form of a body of revolution providing a chamber having a first section and a second section, said sections being in axial communication, means for admitting a gaseous medium tangentially to said first section at a place remote from the second section, a conduit for conducting said gaseous medium from said chamber, said conduit having an inlet at the axially central portion of said chamber adjacent to said second section, said first section being adapted to cause the gaseous medium to travel in a spiral path of increasing pitch from the place of admission toward said second section, said second section decreasing in diameter as the axial distance from said first section increases whereby to increase the angular velocity of the gaseous medium as it flows from the first section spirally of the second section, and means providing a dust collecting chamber radially to one side of said hollow means, said hollow means being axially slotted to provide communication between said dust collecting chamber and each of the sections of the first mentioned chamber.

13. Apparatus of the character described comprising hollow means in the form of a body of revolution providing a chamber having a first section and a second section, said sections being in axial communication, means for admitting a gaseous medium tangentially to said first section at a place remote from the second section, a conduit for conducting said gaseous medium from said chamber, said first section being adapted to cause the gaseous medium to travel in a spiral path of increasing pitch from the place of admission toward said second section, said second section decreasing in diameter as the axial distance from said first section increases whereby to increase the angular velocity of the gaseous medium as it flows from the first section spirally of the secend section, and means providing a dust collecting chamber radially to one side of said hollow means, said hollow means having radially spaced portions forming a slot to provide communication .between said dust collecting chamber and each of the sections of the first mentioned chamber.

14. Apparatus of the character described comprising hollow means in the form of a body of revolution providing a chamber closed at its ends, said chamber having a first section and a second section in unobstructed axial communication, a conduit arranged tangentially adjacent to the end of the first section remote from the second section for admitting a gaseous medium to said chamber, a second conduit for conducting said gaseous medium from said chamber, said second conduit extending axially centrally of said first section and having an inlet opening adjacent to said second section, said first section being adapted to cause the gaseous medium to travel in a spiral path of increasing pitch from the place of admission toward said second section, said second section decreasing in diameter as the axial distance from said first section increases whereby to increase the angular velocity of the gaseous medium as it flows from the first section spirally of the second section, and means providing a dust collecting chamber radially to one side of said hollow means, said hollow means being axially slotted to provide communication between said dust collecting chamber and each of the sections of the first mentioned chamber.

15. Apparatus of the character described comprising hollow means in the form of a body of revolution providing a chamber closed at its ends, said chamber having a first section and a second section in unobstructed axial communication, a conduit arranged tangentially adjacent to the end of the first section remote from the second section for admitting a gaseous medium to said chamber, a second conduit for conducting said gaseous medium from said chamber, said second conduit extending axially centrally of said first section and having an inlet opening adjacent to said second section, said first section being adapted to cause the gaseous medium to travel in a spiral path of increasing pitch from the place of admission toward said second section, said second section decreasing in diameter as the axial distance from said first section increases whereby to increase the angular velocity of the gaseous medium as it flows from the first section spirally of the second section, and means providing a dust collecting chamber radially to one side of said hollow means, said hollow means being axially slotted to provide communication between said dust collecting chamber and each of the sections of the first mentioned chamber, the slot portion between said dust collecting chamber and said second section being tapered.

16. The method of separating solid particles from a gaseous medium which comprises introducing the gaseous medium into a chamber, causing the gaseous medium to first travel in a spiral path of flow of increasing pitch and decreasing angular velocity and then in a spiral path of flow of decreasing diameter and increasing angular velocity whereby to produce difierent absolute pressures of the gaseous medium at axially different points in its path of flow, removing side streams of gaseous medium from the main stream at axially spaced points of relatively high pressure, and re-introducing said side streams into said main stream at a place of relatively low pressure axially between said places of relatively high pressure.

17. The method of separating solid particles from a gaseous medium which comprises introducing the gaseous medium into a chamber, causing the gaseous medium to first travel in a spiral path of flow of increasing pitch and decreasing angular velocity and then in a spiral path of flow TOM CONRAD BIE'TH. 

